Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Back in October I decided I need more classical/classy/opera music in my life. I didn't really know too many artists in that genre so I was kinda stuck. However, it happened the day after I thought about this that I got an email from Twitter that said, "Jonathan Estabrooks is now following you on Twitter!" I was like, "Hmm, who is this guy?" So I went to his profile and thought, "Hey, he seems pretty cool. I wonder what his music sounds like." Then I went to iTunes. I listened to one clip of the first track and was hooked and knew I didn't need to listen to the others before buying it. Needless to say, he got a quick follow back, and an immediate fan. His voice was exactly what I was looking for. It's smooth, deep, powerful, perfect. In fact, if I could fall in love with a voice, it would be his....but that would be weird for both him and myself.

Track listings are:
1. "Play Me"
2. "Kathy's Song"
3. "Time After Time"
4. "Le Cose Che Tu Sei"
5. "Calling You"6. "She"
7. "Por Una Cabeza" (featuring Jonathan Antoine) - This is one of my very favorite songs; many times have I put it on repeat and listened to it over and over and over again because I love it that much!8. "Always On My Mind"
9. "Away From The Roll of The Sea"
10. "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home"
11. "All The Things You Are/Hymne a L'amour"
12. "Fly Away" (Bonus Track)

So the first time I heard that little clip of "Play Me" on iTunes I fell in love (umm, not with him) and even though I listened to it only once, it would still get stuck in my head and I couldn't wait to buy the whole album! I was definitely not disappointed.
His album has opera, pop, jazz, big-band sound, all that good stuff.
The song "Fly Away" was written by him. The lyrics and music (kinda pop-ish) are fantastic. His voice is totally what makes the song so wonderful.
I've only heard the original version of "Time After Time" once and, well, I can't say that I cared for it, but Jonathan was able to make it sound classy with that voice of his, and I love it!
"Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" has that big-band feel to it and though one may think a man with an operatic voice couldn't pull it off, he did and I think it's amazing.
"Por Una Cabeza" with the amazing opera singer Jonathan Antoine. Wow. Where do I start? I so enjoy this song! Their powerful, operatic voices go together wonderfully! And because of this song I am now a huge fan of Jonathan Antoine as well and have his album (which is also fantastic and I highly recommend it).
"Kathy's Song," "Always On My Mind," and "Away From The Roll of The Sea" are all soft songs. I love when he sings soft songs....and that deep baritone voice of his....wow, so lovely and smooth.
"Calling You" kind of has a jazzy feel to it. I don't like jazz, but once again Jonathan is able to take some genre of music or song I don't care for and turn it into something I very much enjoy, and I really enjoy this song.
"Le Cose Che Tu Sei," "She," and "All The Things You Are" are lovely, romantic songs. Even the way he sings them sounds romantic; soft and powerful.

I realize my review may sound a bit over the top or too fantastic, but I'm simply giving you my honest opinion of how I feel about his album.

In short: "These Miles" is a beautiful arrangement of classy, opera, pop, jazzy, big-band music and his voice is simply phenomenal.
I give the album and his voice 100/10....if that's even possible.
He also has a Christmas single of "O Holy Night," which is also beautiful and should be added to any Christmas music collection.
You need "These Miles" in your music collection. You just do.